A local dry-cleaning business has started offering door to door laundry service here in my town. For a monthly fee, they'll pick up your dirty clothes and then bring them back all clean, fresh and folded.

I know theoretically this is useful for some people. For me, though, I like doing laundry. Taking care of the items that clothe my body feels like a fundamental part of living. Pre-treating a stain, washing, hanging a delicate shirt, folding something into a precise square - all of it feels like a cherished act of care.

And so is crafting your business' messages.

Writing your own copy is a deeply personal act. One that merits your love and care. One that offers you the chance to create a beloved conversation between you and your ideal client. One that can feel deep in your bones authentic.

And, perhaps, unlike your family's laundry, is something I advise against hiring completely out, especially early on in your business' development.

Don't Outsource Your Copywriting

I've seen lots of coaches, healers and other creatives hire out their copywriting early on in their business' development.

Maybe they think they're not the best writers. They worry they won't be able to articulate what it is they do or how they help people.

Maybe they think writing their website is a slog. That's an easy place to get to, I so get it. There've been moments, like when I was on my fourth draft of my website's Home page, when I wanted to rip it all up and throw it out the window.

Or maybe they've seen countless marketing messages from business marketing coaches and gurus telling them if they hire them to write their web copy, they'll have clients lining up to work with them.

Whatever the reason, they've hired someone else to write their copy. And here is what they're missing by doing that.

What You'll Be Missing

In addition to spending money before your business is bringing in a lot of money, hiring copywriter(s) means you're missing out on other things. In short, you're missing out on an opportunity to grow with your business.

Knowing your business intimately

Contracting out your copywriting when you're business is early in its development means missing the chance to get to know your business on a granular level. Asking the hard questions - who do you help? and what do you help them with? Who and What - for example, forces you to wrestle with articulating the foundation of your business in every day terms.

Working with a copywriter on your website removes the work you have to do to learn to articulate yourself and your business.

And that's fundamental not only to creating an effective website but to crafting every other piece of marketing you produce in your business - from business cards, sales and landing pages, and email marketing, to newsletters, social media posts, and more.

Leaving that work largely to someone else, means that although you've paid someone to write your Home page on your website, for example, can also leave you feeling like you don't own the language. When that happens other marketing projects become harder.

When you're asked to explain your business or introduce yourself, if you haven't really spent the time being intimate with those details, you stumble.

Or when you're ready to launch an important campaign for a new offer, if you haven't had the opportunity to dialogue with your ideal clients in the gritty, messy work of creation, your words can feel manufactured, or worse, unclear.

Personally stamping your message with style and wisdom

You're also missing the opportunity to pour all of your energy into crafting a message of love and care designed specifically for their ideal clients. No one knows your ideal clients like you do.

No one wants to help them like you want to help them. That's powerful intention. And no one knows yourself and how you speak and think the way better than you.

Yes, you can tell a good copywriter about your ideal clients, and about yourself, but the ability to bring both your own personal energy, love and style to the page is not easy or inexpensive. In some cases, the filter feels palpable. Two clients I've worked with knew the words the copywriters they'd used on their website didn't feel quite right, but they've just assumed the copywriter is the professional, so she must know better, right?

No one knows your business and yourself better than you do.

And even the best copywriters are only putting words on a page that are their perception of you and your business. And many times, though not always, that perception is filtered toward a lens of 'what sells' vs. what helps people feel seen and understand what it is you offer them.

In addition, when you write the words yourself, you're also more keenly aware when they need to shift, which is a common occurrence if you're newer in business. You're also able to be more responsive to change when you haven't already dropped a lot of money up front for copywriting.

What Your Ideal Clients Want

Your ideal clients don't want slick copy. They don't want professional sentences. They don't want sales-speak.

When people visit your website, or read your newsletter, or see your post, they want to know two things.

First, do you understand her? Do you see her? Can you help her?

After that, they want to know you. The real you.

They want to feel you in your words. They want to sense you on your site, in your copy. They want to be able to tell if they like you.

Those are the first two steps that have to happen before someone can start to see you as someone who might be able to help them. Before they can trust you.

Before they will hire you.

Pulling It All Together

What your ideal clients really want doesn't have to come from hiring a professional copywriter. Yes, there are principles that will help your marketing become more effective. It's something I help clients develop so they can create valuable content on their own, but for today, I'll just touch on it.

Know that you need empathy and alignment. You need resonance. You need clarity.

Having someone give you a second opinion and feedback can be invaluable. You can ask former clients or trusted friends. You can take courses where you can get feedback.

Hiring someone as a guide or marketing mentor to help you learn messaging and concepts by doing is also powerful. With time and effort you can get better at writing your marketing copy.

Spending time with your business, finding and working with the words that express your business' soul for those that are longing for your help is a deeply intimate, powerful exercise.

It will help you get to know your business better and improve all of your marketing. It will help you bring more of you and your essence into your marketing. And will enable you to give your clients exactly what they're looking for when they engage with your business.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash